I couldn’t stop thinking about her laugh—the way it transformed her entire face, made her eyes light up like stars. The fire in her voice when she stood up to me, the steel in her spine that let her survive in my world without losing herself. The way she felt in my arms, perfect and precious and mine.
When had she become so important? When had protecting her become more vital than protecting the business?
"Boss." Tommy appeared at my elbow, phone in hand. "Declan’s calling. Wants to know if you need backup."
"Tell him to handle things at the estate. I’m not leaving until?—"
The double doors opened, and a doctor emerged. Older man, steady hands, the calm competence that came from years of delivering life-changing news. I was on my feet before he’d taken three steps.
"Mr...?"
"Creed. How is she?"
His expression gave nothing away as he approached. "Ms. James is stable. The acute pain has subsided, and her vital signs are improving."
Relief hit me like a freight train, nearly buckling my knees. "She’s okay?"
"She’s going to be fine. However, there are some things we need to discuss." He gestured toward a quieter corner of the waiting room. "Privately."
I followed him, every nerve ending on high alert. Doctors who wanted private conversations rarely brought good news.
"Mr. Creed, I need to ask—were you aware that Ms. James is pregnant?"
The word hit me like a physical blow. "What?"
"Approximately five to six weeks along, based on our initial assessment. The stress and physical trauma she’s experiencedrecently nearly caused a miscarriage, but we were able to stabilize both mother and baby."
Pregnant. Cassie was carrying my child.
The sterile hallway seemed to tilt around me, fluorescent lights blurring into streaks of white. Everything I thought I knew about our situation, about what was at stake, just shifted fundamentally.
A baby. My baby. Growing inside the woman who’d already turned my controlled world upside down.
"Is she...?" I couldn’t finish the question, couldn’t voice the fear that was clawing at my chest.
"Both mother and child are stable for now," the doctor continued. "But Mr. Creed, I need you to understand—the stress Ms. James has been under could have resulted in a complete loss. Her body is telling us she needs rest, peace, and minimal stress. Whatever’s been happening in her life recently, it needs to stop."
Peace. Minimal stress. In my world, those were fairy-tale concepts. I was at war with enemies I couldn’t see, surrounded by betrayal, fighting to keep an empire from crumbling around me. And now Cassie was caught in the middle of it, carrying something precious that made her even more vulnerable.
"Can I see her?" My voice came out rougher than I’d intended.
"In a few minutes. She’s been asking for you."
The doctor walked away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway with the weight of fatherhood settling on my shoulders like armor. Cassie was pregnant. With my child. The heir to everything I’d built, everything I’d fought to protect.
And she’d kept it from me.
The betrayal cut deeper than any bullet I’d ever taken. While I’d been laying my life on the line to protect her, she’d been hiding the most important secret of all. How long had she known? How long had she been planning to keep me in the dark?
My phone buzzed. Declan’s name flashed on the screen.
"Roman? How is she?"
"She’s..." I stopped, staring at the closed doors that separated me from Cassie. From the mother of my child. "She’s going to be fine."
"Thank God. When can you come home? We need to discuss security arrangements, especially after tonight. If someone was watching the estate?—"
"Later, Declan." I ended the call without explanation, my mind racing through implications I wasn’t ready to process.
